More than one club or organization has a mission statement or one of its core values the importance of women helping women or women helping girls. I think it is natural for us to want to help each other, share experiences, maybe even save others from similar misfortunes.
My teenage daughter and I saw Julie and Julia together recently. We share a passion for cooking. What I hadn’t expected was how much more we both learned about each other on the ride home after the movie.
Julia Childs didn’t settle for a French cooking class for housewives, she insisted on being part of the class for professional cooks – all male in those days. Young women and girls don’t experience those limitations today.
Both Julie and Julia discovered they had a passion for cooking. That passion led their lives/careers into new directions. Both women also had wonderfully supporting husbands; not the ‘yes dear’ but fully engaged support that most of us seek from our girlfriends.
Soon SITK members will have an opportunity to be fully engaged and support young girls. I’m so excited about this. There will be diverse ways for us to interact so that time or skills won’t limit our involvement. I encourage all of us to be involved as we really can make a difference - we can help them discover themselves and their passion for life. We can help them find the ingredients for life so they can create their own 'recipes!'
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Circle of Life
Lately I’ve sure felt like life is one big circle. My daughter’s shows me the ‘new’ handbag styles or cute clothes and I’m remembering the clothes and purses I had in high school and college. Our college student asks me to checkout a ‘new’ tune and it’s either a remake by a young artist or one of my favorites from 25+ years ago.
While our President hasn’t personally contacted me to say, ‘Check this out, Gretchen,’ his message reminds me of an attitude that I was surrounded by at a very young age. There’s even the charm and smooth speaking style; the actions showing acceptance of all levels of people, not just the well-to-do. But what impresses me most, is the encouragement for all to become involved, to serve, where we live. That hasn’t been ‘in’ since the Peace Corp!
As a young adult, I met another man who got me involved in my community. If I wanted change, I had to do something constructive about it. There were NO excuses. The first time I was asked to help he needed a large batch of baked beans for a fundraiser (regardless of the fact I’d never cooked or eaten them), “so open a cookbook and figure it out!”
I’m a firm believer in taking action; no idle commentary. By joining my local Soroptimist club I made a commitment to help my community. I’ll offer my talents and skills to help others. I hope I add to my talents and skills too – I want to learn new things from others as we accomplish our goals. I hope that I leave an impression on at least three other people also, so that they too continue the circle by serving others.
While our President hasn’t personally contacted me to say, ‘Check this out, Gretchen,’ his message reminds me of an attitude that I was surrounded by at a very young age. There’s even the charm and smooth speaking style; the actions showing acceptance of all levels of people, not just the well-to-do. But what impresses me most, is the encouragement for all to become involved, to serve, where we live. That hasn’t been ‘in’ since the Peace Corp!
As a young adult, I met another man who got me involved in my community. If I wanted change, I had to do something constructive about it. There were NO excuses. The first time I was asked to help he needed a large batch of baked beans for a fundraiser (regardless of the fact I’d never cooked or eaten them), “so open a cookbook and figure it out!”
I’m a firm believer in taking action; no idle commentary. By joining my local Soroptimist club I made a commitment to help my community. I’ll offer my talents and skills to help others. I hope I add to my talents and skills too – I want to learn new things from others as we accomplish our goals. I hope that I leave an impression on at least three other people also, so that they too continue the circle by serving others.
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